In ancient Tao folklore, the words “music” and “scent” share the same root. For Malibu resident Paula Ferraro, the process of achieving auditory and olfactory art is also one in the same.

“Ancient alchemy is a very spiritual process; you’re dealing with the soul and the essence of the plant,” Ferraro said. “I can relate to that because I’ve been churning and distilling my own energy into music and poetry for so long. It’s all the same art form in a way.”

It was through Ferraro’s journey with musical healing — working with Music 4 The Kids, an organization that pairs chronically ill children with artists — that she first began to reflect on wellness and the for-profit medical industry. While her own music sessions with hospitalized children were an unorthodox approach to healing, Ferraro said she was able to witness profound changes in the children around her, reinforcing her belief in self-empowering healthcare.

“Every session we’d basically start from scratch in a group setting, channeling the energy of the group,” Ferraro said. “Everybody would just come together — almost like a ceremony — for the united purpose of making the song. I loved the magic of moment recordings where you’ve just gotten everything right; you’re not over-thinking it so you’d capture the energy of the group right at that moment. It was a medicinal, alchemical, spiritual experience.”

But it wasn’t until Ferraro became pregnant with her daughter that the roots of what has now become her line of blended essential oils and all natural skin care products, Scents of Awe, began to form.

“I went into a hyper-researching phase where I was just researching everything I possibly could,” Ferraro said. “It was so eye-opening to me when I realized that whatever you put on your skin, it’s as if you’re drinking it – it’s in your bloodstream within 30-60 seconds. So I just decided to start from scratch and I started making balms for my belly.”

From there, the business grew “gradually and naturally,” Ferraro said. What began as high vibe essences, oils and balms that she blended for herself and her newborn, developed into requests from friends and family who had sampled her work and benefitted from its healing abilities.

Ferraro now has her products in a boutique in Venice, and is developing scents and skin care for several larger retailers on top of maintaining her online shop.

“I’m a full time mom so all of this just happened; I just followed the yes’s and it’s taken me to a really beautiful place,” Ferraro said. “I’m trying to empower people to go more back into nature, to take their health back into their own hands. All of these essences are out there and they’ve got such potency and such rich, amazing history behind them. It’s right at people’s fingertips, they just don’t necessarily know how to use it.”

Many of Ferraro’s most popular products — her Dream Creme, Splendid Scar Healer, Lavender Wand and SuperMama First Aid blend — originated from her own experiences with her now 4-year-old daughter, who she actively works with to instill a sense of respect and reverence for nature. At their Las Flores Canyon home, Ferraro cultivates several gardens and tends to the wild plants and animals that she and her daughter have grown to call their friends.

Before Ferraro and her husband settled in Malibu four years ago, Ferraro had spent the last decade traveling the world, “never in one place for more than a month,” she said. But in Malibu, she has found a place that not only inspires her work and her lifestyle, but truly feels like home.

“This is Chumash territory, and we treat it as such,” Ferraro said. “When I was a kid I remember thinking, ‘I’m going to have a place in the middle of the woods and I’m going to watch the deer come by.’ This was the place I dreamed of when I was 7 years old.”